"By the way, the monthly exam is in a week. What ranking do you guys expect to have?" Zhou Anqi — who had finished consuming the spiritual liquid in the porcelain bottle and was once again full of energy — said with a bright gaze. "I heard that the rewards this time are very rich. The first place in the grade will get thirty spirit stones!"
"What?! Really? That many?"
Duan Feng, who was originally pale and had a splitting headache, sat up from the ground and stared at Zhou Anqi in shock.
"It should be true. In the past, the first place in the monthly examination would only be rewarded with twenty spirit stones. This time, they added ten more to the count. I heard that it was funded by the military." Zhou Anqi said slowly.
Chu Lingjun stared at Zhou Anqi in surprise. After spending more than half a month with her, he learned that Zhou Anqi's father was from the military, so the authenticity of the news would be quite legible.
Still, Chu Lingjun frowned. He remembered something his father had unintentionally mentioned when he was about to return to the army. That was, the number of exotic beasts around Lan City in Quicksand Town seemed to have increased significantly this year!
The military suspected that these exotic beasts had either migrated from other places or a new spatial rift had appeared in the Iron Peak Mountain !
The latter had been on his mind ever since!
Once a new spatial rift appears and opens up a passageway to another world, a large number of unfamiliar exotic beasts would rush into Earth!
In fact, there might even be new mythical creatures appearing!
Most of the mythical creatures that descended on Earth were unfriendly to humans!
Once they were born, the human towns nearby would be plunged into misery!
"How are they holding up at the front lines? Is it getting worse?" Chu Lingjun's heart trembled slightly.
When this question was brought up, the usually arrogant woman could not help but pause. Then, she nodded heavily. "Yeah… My dad said that the number of exotic beasts in the wild has been increasing. We're starting to lose more and more people. Even the strange beasts in the sea have begun to invade our coastal areas. The land beasts and the sea beasts seem to have joined forces!"
Duan Feng's expression changed drastically, and his face became even paler.
Chu Lingjun couldn't help but close his eyes as a strong sense of urgency welled up in his heart!
He had to quickly become stronger and become the pillar of support for his family. Only then could his father retire from the front lines !
At the very least, he had to obtain heavenly treasures to help his father advance in ranks. That way, his father's safety could be guaranteed!
…
Chu Lingjun didn't go straight home after school. Instead, he went to a river that led to Lianjiang.
The reason was simple — they had finished all the exotic beast meat at home.
As Chu Lingjun's cultivation continued to rise, coupled with the fact that he was a dual cultivator, his appetite grew larger and larger each day. He could eat five to six kilograms of level one beast meat a day.
Not only that, but his mother and sister would eat about half a kilogram of Level One exotic beast meat each day. Chu Lingjun had left the city twice in a row recently to hunt for more meat.
At the start, Fang Shuping was unwilling to eat exotic beast meat, or she did not dare to eat too much. She left most of it for Chu Lingjun and Chu Yue. Now, she would always have a share for herself.
Chu Lingjun had lied to his mother, saying that the exotic beast meat was a reward for the top three students in his grade.
Fang Shuping didn't believe it at first, but as Chu Lingjun brought large amounts of exotic beast meat to the house one after another and filled the fridge, she was convinced.
Her neighbors, friends, and relatives all confirmed that Chu Lingjun was very talented in school and was ranked in the top three of his grade.
In addition, the exotic beast meat was really delicious. Fang Shuping started to acquire a taste for it, and she would always make the most scrumptious meals.
When he arrived, a 1.8-meter-long giant beast emerged from the water bit by bit. Its aura was awe-inspiring and ferocious.
The giant beast was covered in black scales. Under the sunlight, it flashed with a cold and hard luster unique to metal.
However, when he shifted his gaze to the beast's head, there were two tiny green bean eyes that looked back awkwardly. It looked a little silly and it immediately destroyed the domineering aura it had before.
It was a Level One exotic beast that his mother and Chu Yue loved to eat.
An ordinary bass was about 20 centimeters long, while this bass was nearly a meter long. The difference in body length was huge.
Chu Lingjun took down the bass and moved it to the shore.
Once he was done, he checked on his electric eel. He saw that the electric eel's mouth was holding on to a pile of gold jewelry and a spirit stone.
Chu Lingjun put these treasures into his backpack and took out a short knife to deal with the bass on the ground.
This Level One bass was too big. It was inconvenient to carry and too eye-catching to bring it back like this.
Chu Lingjun quickly removed the scales, internal organs, and bones. Then, he chopped the remaining fish meat into a few large pieces. This way, it would just fit into his backpack even if it was stuffed to the brim.
In order to prevent the fishy smell and the spiritual energy from spreading, Chu Lingjun wrapped all the fish meat in a few layers of plastic waterproof bags and sprayed it with some citrus.
After he was done, Chu Lingjun immediately rushed back to Quicksand Town.
Chu Lingjun immediately heaved a sigh of relief after successfully returning home.
After a simple interlude, Chu Lingjun returned to his usual routine he had for school.
Then, he would come back at night to cultivate the Cannon Fist. Everything was done according to plan, and his proficiency was also constantly increasing.
Chu Lingjun's life was busy and fulfilling.
A week had passed, and there was only one day left before the monthly exam.
Chu Lingjun lay on the bed panting after finishing his practice and looked at the data in front of him.
[Name: Chu Lingjun]
[Vitality: 43]
[Spirit: 85]
[Talent: Soul Clon (Electric Eel)]
[Cultivation technique: Cannon Fist (7/1000/Intermediate), Fifth National Military Boxing (20/1000/Intermediate), Twelve Floors Visualization Method (21/1000/Intermediate)]
…
[Name: Electric Eel]
[Level: Middle Stage Level One]
[Experience: 736/3000]
[Talent: Lightning Control]
[Skills: First-grade Discharge (773/1000), First-grade Electric Field (934/1000)]
At this moment, his vitality had already reached 43 points, while his spirit was at 85 points. Both of them were growing at a decent speed!
During this period of time, Chu Lingjun had been missing some information. Once his vitality broke through to 67 points, he could advance to a Late Stage Rank One martial artist.
As for his spiritual force, it would need to be twice as much as his vitality, which meant that he would need 134 points before he could advance to a Late Stage Rank One esper!
Chu Lingjun sighed. No wonder martial artists sometimes looked down on espers. Even if the country wanted to nurture espers, it would be to no avail.
Being an esper was too difficult. The difficulty of raising one's spirit would be twice that of vitality!
Fortunately, he had the electric eel clone, or else his cultivation speed would be as slow as a snail.
After concluding his day, Chu Lingjun fell into a deep sleep.